Sorry sir, it's a private function.

Some rides have to be done, regardless of how sore the legs are, or how fast the other riders are.

"The Invitational" was alleged to be one of those. I can attest that even though the ride did have some of Australia's Off-Road cycling elite, and I did posses some of the most beaten pre-ride legs, that I'd do it again if asked.



Meeting in the cold air of Mothers Day morning we donned blindfolds and drove to an unknown location. What could be better than secret training on secret trails?

The trails secrets were soon revealed to us, they were hills of both the up and down variety, fire roads, single track and rocks, boy were there rocks! Many of the descents were littered with fist sized ones. Just big enough to take your eye off the line ahead and lose your poise on the bike, big enough to cause your wheels to skate around while you tried your best to keep it rubber side down, big enough to make the adrenalin flow.

Not since the muddy epic that was the 2006 Ballan 6hr have I laughed so much about bikes being out of control, James Kennedy even managed to get completely turned around on a climb. With his helmet cam rolling, his bike and he went careening past, the look of fear in his eyes brought mirth to ours. Here's hoping the video that eventually makes it to YouTube will feature the riot of laughter that followed his progress.



Like all good adventures it was about the journey and not the destination. It was about riding with people, rather than riding against them. Our first detour was up a long sandy fire road, towards the top it became strewn with rocks seeking to bounce you off line, to make you unclip. Once bested we stood for a moment, reflected on the stunning view, and bombed straight back down the way we'd come.

The next section was another detour, out to an old mine, over the infamous mesh bridge. It spans a small washed out creek bed with a 2"x2" mesh, apparently held in place by star pickets and the collective fear/hope of the riders crossing it.



Crossing back across a few of the lads set the whole thing in motion, the wave that hit me towards the end felt like a good, old fashioned, double bounce! :)

While I didn't ride as well as I'd like, at the end of the day you can't beat heading out into the unknown for a ride with good people.